TMNT #3. Preview and discussion

[hypered1]

Leonardo's turn
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[CyberCubed]

This feels like a story straight out of TMNT Archie Adventures. If someone told me Steve Murphy wrote this issue I'd believe it. A story dealing with pollution, a Turtle traveling around the world to India, a spiritual story of finding oneself? This is Archie Adventures stuff.

[Andrew NDB]

"The soul of a ninja inside the body of a mutant" seems a little flowery for flowery's sake. I mean, he have the same soul as some kid who once was a ninja hundreds of years ago... but in this current life he trained to be a ninja just the same from Splinter. Is he not a ninja in the body of... a ninja?

[Coola Yagami]

"The soul of a ninja inside the body of a mutant" seems a little flowery for flowery's sake. I mean, he have the same soul as some kid who once was a ninja hundreds of years ago... but in this current life he trained to be a ninja just the same from Splinter. Is he not a ninja in the body of... a ninja?

I guess he means the soul of a human ninja in the body of a humanoid turtle.

[Andrew NDB]

Still, that seems a little academic and also dumb. If we're to throw in full for reincarnation here, what was the life Leo lived before he was a Feudal Japanese boy? Was it a snail? Was it a dog before that? An ancient Neanderthal man before that? So then Leo is actually a Neanderthal in a mutant's body, in the present day? We only draw the line at 2 lives? Why?

[Braeden99]

Well that was underwhelming as hell. Was hoping to see Leo slay a bunch of Foot, but instead they just skip the whole fight.

I feel ripped off.

[TheLabRat]

Well that was underwhelming as hell. Was hoping to see Leo slay a bunch of Foot, but instead they just skip the whole fight.

I feel ripped off.

I think he just knocked them out, and let those softshell turtles eat them. But they may wake up soon and kill these softshell turtles, so Leo is indirectly responsible for these softshells death. If Leo let them eat his flesh, they might mutate because of mutagen in his blood. Also, how can a helicopter get from India to Japan easily?

[Andrew NDB]

Was hoping to see Leo slay a bunch of Foot

Why would you hope to see that? Nickelodeon won't allow them to kill in the IDW comics. There was even the whole Dark Leo story about leading up to him going evil and becoming a killer just once and they couldn't even do that.

[neatoman]

Does anyone else think Leo talking to normal, non-sentient turtles and waiting indefinitely for a response makes him look... A bit unhinged?

[Coola Yagami]

So far this series sounds like a whole lot of dreary ****. When exactly is the fun going to start?

Like so far, nothing here is really selling me. This four turtle solo **** is what the minis should be for.

[Andrew NDB]

So far this series sounds like a whole lot of dreary ****. When exactly is the fun going to start?

Like so far, nothing here is really selling me. This four turtle solo **** is what the minis should be for.

For all we know that's what the writer wanted to do and IDW was too hungry for that Vol. 2 #1.

[Braeden99]

Why would you hope to see that? Nickelodeon won't allow them to kill in the IDW comics. There was even the whole Dark Leo story about leading up to him going evil and becoming a killer just once and they couldn't even do that.

Even if he has to follow the same code as Batman, It still would've been cool to see him in action. But they just skipped through the best part.

[Andrew NDB]

There really isn't any way around "I'm a ninja and I don't kill" that doesn't make the whole thing into a farce. Batman's different in that, while he certainly has ninjitsu in his repertoire, he isn't pretending to be a ninja. What IDW should have done, at the very least (and I'm sure this would have been a "No" from Nickelodeon anyway) was have Dark Leo kill, and then immediately be super remorseful about it to such an extent that it becomes the origin story for why the IDW TMNT never kill. Sort of like how the Byrne run of Superman did that with Superman and Zod, and that becoming the reason he would never kill again.

[CyberCubed]

There's a fight with the Foot with Raph/Mike, I don't think we needed to see Leo knock a bunch out on the beach. It's very similar to what Mirage did at times where most of the fights would be off-panel and we'd just see the aftermath aside from a few scenes.

So anyway I guess those "brightly colored" ninja's that attacked Michelangelo were Foot Soldiers after all, it's just the artists of the last issue made them have lens flare on their uniforms for some reason, lol. The Turtles all meeting by the next issue is good, I do think all these issues should of been one-shots and not in the main ongoing.

We don't know why the Foot are attacking the Turtles again, but I guess the Mutant Nation mini-series will tell us why.

[TheLabRat]

Karai did say that she had to deal with the turtles because they knew too many magic secrets. She is still sees the turtles as her one of rivals.

"No Kill" in IDW TMNT is dumber than DC/Marvel. The turtles was forced to fight the the most psychotic evil versions of villains, while remaining merciful. They can't even beat some minor villains like Gang of Four.

[Zog The Magnificent]

Karai did say that she had to deal with the turtles because they knew too many magic secrets. She is still sees the turtles as her one of rivals.

"No Kill" in IDW TMNT is dumber than DC/Marvel. The turtles was forced to fight the the most psychotic evil versions of villains, while remaining merciful. They can't even beat some minor villains like Gang of Four.

The "No Kill" thing has never made sense for IDW. When this started, the 2012 show was also going. The 2012 show was the flagship of the brand at the time; the most visible, the most notable, and the one most likely to be seen by kids. And guess what? THE TURTLES KILL IN THAT ONE. It's the only other version after the Mirage comics where the Turtles themselves get to kill Shredder.

Why then, in this comic that is the secondary arm of the brand, that is explicitly aimed at an older audience, are they not allowed to kill, but they ARE allowed to kill in the extremely visible show that is ostensibly for kids!? Even the weasels got a friggin' kill, and they're supposed to be actual children! What was the logic!?

[Cowabung-Gal]

Does anyone else think Leo talking to normal, non-sentient turtles and waiting indefinitely for a response makes him look... A bit unhinged?

He was already unhinged when he cried over Lita’s demutation.

[TheLabRat]

Has Leo forgotten that he can travel to spirit world through meditation? If he did, he might meet some ancient softshell turtle spirit or something.

[Coola Yagami]

The "No Kill" thing has never made sense for IDW. When this started, the 2012 show was also going. The 2012 show was the flagship of the brand at the time; the most visible, the most notable, and the one most likely to be seen by kids. And guess what? THE TURTLES KILL IN THAT ONE. It's the only other version after the Mirage comics where the Turtles themselves get to kill Shredder.

Why then, in this comic that is the secondary arm of the brand, that is explicitly aimed at an older audience, are they not allowed to kill, but they ARE allowed to kill in the extremely visible show that is ostensibly for kids!? Even the weasels got a friggin' kill, and they're supposed to be actual children! What was the logic!?

To be fair, they didn't kill Super Shredder til like... season 5 or whatever it was. No one would have predicted that back when both that show and IDW were stating up.

[Zog The Magnificent]

To be fair, they didn't kill Super Shredder til like... season 5 or whatever it was. No one would have predicted that back when both that show and IDW were stating up.

Well, season 4, but remember, season 4 started airing in 2015 and finished in 2017. That means it would have been in production during 2014, which means it and all the scripts were seen by the higher ups. At that point in time, IDW was right in the middle of the post #50, where a huge part of the initial plot was the turtles being upset that Splinter killed Shredder. So while that's going on and the turtles explicitly kill Shredder, the IDW comic was still chugging along, with the No Kill mandate constantly coming up. And even to this day, the turtles themselves are the ONLY CHARACTERS who aren't allowed to kill anyone. Every other major character has been allowed to kill people. I just don't get it.

[TheLabRat]

I think the problem is IDW Splinter. He did tell his sons to take a vow of "No Kill". In #50, he actually breaks his oath(kill Shredder) and take over the Foot Clan. Whether his actions were intended to protect his son and for other noble reasons, he is still a failed mentor and that's why the turtles disappointed in him. At least, 2012 Splinter tells the turtles that they must kill if necessary because they're ninjas.

[CyberCubed]

They said issue 6 is when the series gets its true start with the new story. These first 5 issues are just a reintroduction to the characters after a timeskip for new readers. Granted I think spending 5 months on a slow burn for a new #1 is a weird choice, but it is what it is.

[Andrew NDB]

Narratively if the first four issues weren't going to be a mini (and it obviously should've been) then they probably should've just intercut between all 4 Turtles' stories in each issue of the 4 issues.

[Coola Yagami]

Narratively if the first four issues weren't going to be a mini (and it obviously should've been) then they probably should've just intercut between all 4 Turtles' stories in each issue of the 4 issues.

I agree. I feel it's a waste of time and these solo tales won't really matter in the long run once the story starts proper. Like no one's gonna mention Raph being in jail or Mikey won't be calling his contacts in Hollywood to help things along or whatever after the story actually gets started.

[TheLabRat]

I agree. I feel it's a waste of time and these solo tales won't really matter in the long run once the story starts proper. Like no one's gonna mention Raph being in jail or Mikey won't be calling his contacts in Hollywood to help things along or whatever after the story actually gets started.

Seriously, how many times are they going to quarrel? Didn't they all agreed to go their own path, and now Mikey suddenly blame his brother abandon for him? This is as silly as the future Donnie thing.

[TheLabRat]

If I remember correctly, softshells are carnivorous, and they will even eat other turtles smaller than themselves.